Home theater & music


  #1  
Old 01-19-04, 11:54 AM
eoc1212
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Home theater & music

This may be a dumb question but currently I have a Sony amp/tuner powering my "quasi home theater system." I am due for an upgrade and plan to not use any of my old stuff. What I was wondering was if a home theater system will also put out good (and loud) quality sound when playing music cd's or the radio??? I have lots of parties and need to take this into consideration when planning out my components. Sound would need to fill a pretty large room. Would I be better off going with another amp/tuner system plus a dvd player and cd changer OR are there home theater systems out there than can suit all my needs???
 
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Old 01-19-04, 12:14 PM
primo8998
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Well first off what is your budget?
 
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Old 01-19-04, 12:32 PM
eoc1212
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Oops... sorry I guess that might be an important detail! A couple of thousand for the whole HT set up.
 
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Old 01-19-04, 12:42 PM
primo8998
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That sounds like a good budget to me! The possibilities are endless. I would recommend a nice receiver somewhere in the 500-800 dollar range. That would leave you with 1200-1500 on speakers. Well it is hard to lead you down the right path because you have so many options. Do you have a higher end Audio video store in your area! If you do they can point you in the right direction. Let your ears do the buying! Trust me with 2 thousand dollars u will be able to strip the paint off the walls, i look forward to see what you end up getting! Ohh as for the changer or dvd player i personally would go with a single disc dvd player. Most dvd players can play mp3, so that would like 130 songs on one disc. Good luck! let me know if you have any other questions.
 
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Old 01-19-04, 03:56 PM
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eoc1212,

And certainly don't forget the SUB-woofer!!
What a difference to add to a system. Even a $200 sub will shake your walls. (like the Soprano's theme - Alabama)

fred
 
  #6  
Old 01-19-04, 04:38 PM
primo8998
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Speaking of subs. Two come to mind. First off for the price is a hsuresearch sub. They now are distributed at comp-usa (some lower line models i beleive). Check out their website. Another company is called SVS. Both of these companys only make subwoofers. The price range is from 350-???. But trust me these subwoofers out-preform most subs that cost 1200-1500. And talk about paint stripping off the walls .... Mamma mia...! Better fasten pictures securely.. My picture on top of the mantle likes to run away. By the way i have a hsu vtf-3. I would definitely buy one of these subwoofers, anything in your budget that is.


http://www.hsuresearch.com/

http://www.svsubwoofers.com/
 

Last edited by primo8998; 01-19-04 at 06:38 PM.
  #7  
Old 01-19-04, 07:31 PM
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Those little cube speakers are no good for music. Get a good pair of front mains for music. You might also visit some home theater forums and see what the videophiles and audiophiles are using.
 
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Old 01-20-04, 09:54 AM
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Music will sound fine if you get decent speakers. Fewalt was right about the sub, but wrong about the budget. Spend more like $500 on a sub on a $2k budget.

I would break it down like this:

$500 sub
$300 receiver
$1100 5 speakers
$100 dvd player

In this price range, good speakers will make a much bigger difference than a good receiver. Get a single dvd player for now, and a cd changer later if you feel you need it. Buy the receiver and dvd at a Circuit City, and shop a hifi store for speakers. Buy your sub fro mone of the two links mentioned here.

***You will get mcu better sound from bookshelf speakers than towers at your budget.

I can go into much more detail if you'd like.
 
  #9  
Old 01-20-04, 10:57 AM
eoc1212
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thanks for all the feedback! I originally though 2000 was a modest budget... and the amount I HAD to spend to get decent sound. I just purchased an LCD projection tv- the Panasonic PT-50lc13 and thought since I has spent about $3,000 for that, that I should also spend a good amount for sound. I am not rich by any means so now I am reconsidering. Maybe $2,000 for HT set-up is too much? I don't want bottom of the line sound for this good quality TV... what budget do you guys suggest for a solid setup: amp, speakers, powered sub, and dvd player... guess cables must also go into the budget. Thanks for saving me some money.!
 
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Old 01-20-04, 12:19 PM
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I spent almost $2000 on my subwoofer. $2k is an adequate budget, but by no means out of line. $300 gets you a low end (but useable) receiver. Bumping that number up to $500 would make a big difference. spending $1k on a sub will get you a great sub, and if you could spen $2k on your 5 speakers, you'd be getting much better gear there as well. The law of diminishing returns doens't apply yet for these numbers.

If you do want to save some money, Onkyo makes an excellent HTIB for about $400 that includes a real receiver, a sub and 6 speakers. Nothing fancy, but it does sound good. Your custom $2k system will be much better, but this is a decent sounding option.

So:

$400 HITB = adequate

$500 sub
$300 receiver
$1100 5 speakers
$100 dvd player
$100 cables
--------
$2100 = decent

$1200 sub (SVS)
$600 receiver (Yamaha/Denon/HK)
$1800 speakers (Paradigm Studio/Rocket/MK)
$100 dvd player ($250 if you want DVI)
$200 300 disc cd changer
$150 cables (don't mess around with fancy cables)
---------
$4050 = excellent

You could spend a whole lot more than this if you wanted to, but you woulnd't be gaining alot of value for your dollar over the $4k system.
 
 

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